Pakistan has joined 20 other nations and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in rejecting Israel’s recognition of self-declared Republic of Somaliland, with a joint statement saying that Tel Aviv’s measure reflected its “full and blatant disregard for international law”.
The statement also registered the countries’ rejection of any “potential link between such measure and any attempts to forcibly expel the Palestinian people out of their land”.
The joint statement has been issued by the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Gambia, Iran, Iraq Kuwait, Libya, Maldives, Nigeria, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Turkiye, Yemen and the OIC.
The Foreign Office (FO) released the joint statement by 21 nations, including Pakistan, and the OIC on Sunday, underscoring their “unequivocal rejection” of Israel’s recognition of the ‘Somaliland’ region of the Federal Republic of Somalia.
The statement said that given the serious repercussions of such an unprecedented measure on peace and security in the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea, and its serious effects on international peace and security as a whole, the move also “reflects Israel’s full and blatant disregard for international law”.
The 21 nations and the OIC condemned the measure in the strongest terms, saying that it “constitutes a grave violation of the principles of international law and the United Nations Charter, which explicitly stipulates the imperative of protecting the sovereignty of states and their territorial integrity, and reflects Israel’s expansionist” policy.
They underscored their full support of the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Somalia, and the unequivocal rejection of any measures that undermine the unity of Somalia, its territorial integrity or its sovereignty over its entire territory.
“The recognition of parts of states constitutes a serious precedent and threatens international peace and security, and violates the cardinal principles of international law and the United Nations Charter,” their joint statement read.
They registered their “full rejection of any potential link between such measure and any attempts to forcibly expel the Palestinian people out of their land, which is unequivocally rejected in any form as a matter of principle”.
In a separate statement on Saturday, the FO termed Israel’s recognition of Somaliland an attempt to undermine Somalia’s sovereignty.
Meanwhile, in a call with Somali Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar reaffirmed Pakistan’s full support for Somalia’s sovereignty and condemned actions undermining it, the FO said in a post on X.
“The Somali Foreign Minister thanked the DPM/FM (Dar) for standing by Somalia and for Pakistan’s continued and sustained support,” the post read. “He also sought Pakistan’s assistance in raising Somalia’s concerns at the UNSC.”
Similarly, in another call with Egyptian Foreign Minister Dr Badr Abdelatty, Dar discussed regional and global developments, with Somalia and Yemen in particular, the FO said in another social media post.
For its part, Somalia has declared the Israeli decision a “deliberate attack” on its sovereignty.